


Permission

by startwearingpurple



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:02:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24327730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startwearingpurple/pseuds/startwearingpurple
Summary: Harry and Arthur have a little discussion... but it’s not “permission”. Just a wizard to wizard heads up. Because Ginny doesn’t need anyone’s permission to be proposed to.This little story is dedicated to my homegirl RonsGirlFriday, who is a brilliant writer and I love her work. This is a missing moment fic from one of her stories.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 5
Kudos: 49





	Permission

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RonsGirlFriday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RonsGirlFriday/gifts).



Harry Potter, defeater of You-Know-Who, celebrated Auror and capturer of dozens of Dark wizards by the tender age of twenty-one, was rather nervous indeed.

Fathers, you see, were something he wasn’t entirely accustomed to.

Having grown up without a father of his own, or even a reliable father figure (with much apologies to his godfather Sirius, who had been a good friend but not mature enough to be a father, he recognized that now), Harry had a bit of difficulty understanding the depth of the relationship between his girlfriend and her father. He understood in an intellectual way that Ginny adored her father, and that being around her father gave her a feeling of safety and acceptance, but having never experienced it himself, he didn’t feel he could truly understand at the visceral level at which Ginny understood it. The idea of a close relationship with one’s father left him with a blend of mystified awe and deep longing.

Ginny Weasley, like all her siblings, was very close to her father, and Harry rather thought because of this fact that he ought to run a certain idea past Ginny’s father before he ran it past her. Arthur was not a traditional wizard in many ways, being a bit eccentric even by wizarding standards, or as Ron Weasley had always put it, “Dad’s a bit of a nutter” - nevertheless he was a man born in the 1940s and Harry thought he might have certain expectations of what a man’s duty was in this sort of situation.

Arthur had always seemed very fond of Harry, and had adapted well to the idea that Harry and Ginny were dating. He didn’t seem quite as delighted by it as Mrs. Weasley (who had been on the verge of tears when she had learned of it), but delighted nevertheless. This, Harry felt, was surely a good sign.

Harry had always felt a deep respect for Arthur Weasley, as a man of conviction and as the sort of father figure Harry had always wished for. Arthur led his flock of children with a sense of humor and camaraderie, and an occasionally haphazard amount of discipline. It was one of many things Harry quite liked about the man. Recently, however, his mental label of Arthur had shifted from “the sort of father I’d like to have” to “the sort of father I’d like to be”.

And though Arthur was not a traditional sort of wizard, because of the respect he’d always felt and the vague idea that it was his duty to have a word with him, Harry was going to check with Ginny’s father that it was okay for Harry to propose to her.

He didn’t like the idea of ‘asking permission’, because Ginny wasn’t a thing to be given away, she was a grown witch, and it was not up to her parents to say whom she could or could not marry (frankly, he’d like to see them try to stop her marrying whomever she damn well pleased), but surely she would not mind, he felt, if he gave Arthur a heads up. Wizard to wizard, so to speak.

Fortunately Arthur’s predilection for Muggle artifacts made it easy to catch him alone. One had only to look in the shed to find him tinkering over an electric kettle or a digital clock on any given Saturday morning.

Sure enough, Arthur was out there that very Saturday morning. He was bent industriously over a small remote-controlled toy car when Harry ducked inside the shed. Glasses slightly askew on his long nose, Arthur looked up at the sound of Harry’s footsteps.

“Oh good morning,” Arthur said excitedly. “Have a look and tell me if I’ve reassembled this correctly. It was all in pieces when I found it in a bin - that is, when I came across it the other day. I think I’ve got it.”

Harry looked over the car, which seemed fine to him on the outside, but there was no way to tell whether it had all its pieces inside. Not that he would know by looking at it, at any rate. “Seems right, I reckon.”

“Excellent. I just need to find a battery in my collection that will fit.” Arthur set the toy down and pulled out a box of batteries of various shape and size from a shelf under his work table. “What brings you here this morning, Harry?”

“Well... I wanted to talk to you about Ginny.”

“Going to ask for permission to marry her?” Arthur asked brightly, still rummaging about among his batteries.

“Well, no, actually-”

“No?” Arthur looked at Harry over the gold rims of his glasses.

Harry grabbed a camp chair and pulled it closer so he could sit nearer to Arthur. This put him looking up at Arthur, who was perched on a tall stool, but somehow the shorter height didn’t feel like a disadvantage. Arthur’s gaze was friendly, though rather piercing, and gave Harry the feeling he could say just about anything to Arthur, and get only advice and sympathy in return. No judgment. No fuss.

This must be what having a father felt like, came the fleeting thought across Harry’s mind.

“The only one I’m going to ask is Ginny. But I wanted to talk to you about it first, before I bring it up to her. Not permission, really. I just thought I should tell you.” He felt a bit awkward now, but still managed to say in a normal voice, without just blurting it out, “I want to marry her. And I hope she wants to marry me.”

Arthur handed the box of batteries to Harry, who took it without glancing down, still watching Arthur’s face.

Arthur scratched his chin a bit and adjusted his glasses on his nose. “Well, I do think that’s wise, son. Ginny is rather independent, in case you haven’t noticed, and would hate the idea that she needed anyone’s permission - even mine - to marry anyone she bloody well pleased.”

Harry grinned at that. “That was basically what I was thinking.”

“Then I think you should discuss the subject with her.” Arthur smiled at him then. “I feel as if I should offer you a beer at a time like this, but I haven’t anything out here to drink.”

Harry smiled and glanced down into the box of batteries. “That’s all right, sir. Here,” and he selected a double A battery from the box, “try this one in the car.”

“Ah, thank you.” Arthur inserted the battery the right way round on his first try, somewhat to Harry’s surprise.

“You know,” Harry said then, watching this operation, “sometimes Muggles keep small refrigerators in their garage or shed, just to hold drinks. Sodas or beers, that sort of thing.”

Arthur glanced up, fascinated. “Really? Beers in the shed?”

“Or a cooler, for cold beers on the go. Like going fishing or camping.” Harry thought the cooler may not be as appealing to Arthur, lacking electricity or batteries to interest him as it did.

“Amazing.” Arthur shook his head. “Shouldn’t the car be doing something now it has a battery?”

Harry glanced around the work table. It was scattered with disassembled clocks, parts of telephones, and bits of wire, but there was no remote visible. “That’s a remote control car. Do you have the remote?”

Arthur looked blank. Harry took that as a no.

“You may have to enchant it after all,” Harry added.

“Don’t tell Molly,” Arthur said, pulling his wand from his pocket to tap it against the bonnet of the toy car, which promptly drove off toward the back of the table and then up the wall of the shed, where it whizzed away behind the shelves. 

“You don’t mind if Ginny and I start discussing marriage?” Harry asked, wanting to be absolutely clear.

“It’s not up to me. But if you’re asking whether I approve, then I must tell you that I can think of nothing that would please me more than to call you one of my sons.” Arthur turned a bit red, the ruddy flush marching up to his graying ginger hair. “You’ve been a part of our family for years, Harry. I hope she’ll make you a legal part of it.”

Harry could feel his own cheeks reddening. “Thank you, Mr. Weasley.”

“Yes, well.” Arthur clapped a hand against Harry’s shoulder. “You can call me Arthur, or after she says yes, Dad. If you like.”

Harry nodded, feeling a little lost for words. Calling anyone Dad felt a little unnatural, as if the word was rusty in his mind. He was very much enjoying Arthur’s confidence that Ginny would in fact say yes. He was reasonably confident of that himself or he wouldn’t be planning to bring up the subject to her, but it felt good to know Ginny’s father thought she would want to marry him. “Thanks. Arthur.”

“I should also warn you not to mention this to Molly,” Arthur added.

The smile on Harry’s face slipped a bit in surprise. While he’d always felt Arthur was quite fond of him, he was very sure Molly already considered him a son in her affections. “What... Why?”

“First, she’ll sob all over you with joy and likely embarrass you no end, and second, she won’t be able to keep it to herself, so everyone will know immediately what you’re planning. Just wait until after you ask Ginny. That way she can happily sob all over both of you.” Arthur chuckled. “If you thought she cried at Bill’s wedding, or when George got engaged, you haven’t seen anything yet, my boy.”


End file.
